Strongest Apfelwein

No doubt some of you have tried adding extra corn sugar to make stronger apfelwein...how much did you add, and what was the result?

The Montrachet poops out at 12-14%, I believe. More booze? IMHO, the stuff is pretty hoochy already. What recipe are you using? Ed's original uses a few lbs of corn sugar.

In any case, you'll have to switch up the yeast if you want to go higher.

I mis measured my batch and it came out at 8.5% And yes it is pretty hoochy. The alcohol nose and taste is pretty strong.

blacklab said:

The Montrachet poops out at 12-14%, I believe. More booze? IMHO, the stuff is pretty hoochy already. What recipe are you using? Ed's original uses a few lbs of corn sugar.

In any case, you'll have to switch up the yeast if you want to go higher.

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Ed's recipe uses a couple of pounds of corn sugar and I think they estimate it at about 8%. I'm not necessarily planning to deviate from that myself, but I was wondering if anyone else had, and what the results were - assuming they stuck to the original recipe aside from the added sugar. If Montrachet gives up at 12-14%, then how much sugar would you add to get a slightly sweeter wine? I'm sure a stronger apfewein would require more aging too...

Arneba28 said:

I mis measured my batch and it came out at 8.5% And yes it is pretty hoochy. The alcohol nose and taste is pretty strong.

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How much extra sugar did you put in? Did you follow the recipe otherwise?

Or, alternately, do the normal recipe, then take a shot of vodka when it's done. If the goal is to git druck, I'd just as soon stay relatively low in alcohol (8% or so) so that you don't make it unenjoyable to drink, and then take a shot of booze to help get drunk quicker. If that's your goal, anyway.

Yeah many can attest to the fact that Ed's magic elixer doesn't need to have it's ABV boosted any further...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=71826

This sums it up;

Just got a little tipsy off a couple pints of 3 week fresh Apfelwein the other night and I could have sworn I was the star of a porno titled "Man skull orifices and hard things" the night before. It hurts in all the wrong ways.

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Getting drunk is not necessarily my motivation here...I just wanted to hear if anyone had made the apfelwein at a strength closer to regular wine, and what their results were taste-wise after some aging.

I've made a heavier version of this cider, although with Champagne yeast. Careful when drinking it though, as it'll hurt worse than shooting four 40s of Old English if you over do it. Would heavily recommend to let it set for a very, very long time as it packs a mighty, burning punch.

Required:
5 gallons of Apple Juice
15 Pounds of Dextrose
A pack and a half oLavlin EC-1118 Champagne Yeast

Best Results:
6 Teaspoons of Yeast Nutrient (Cheap)

In order to make sure that you don't overwhelm the yeast, I would recommend a two step process. I've heard that this yeast is very hardy and can usually eat all the sugar without this, but I would recommend just in case.

I take a gallon of my juice and put it in a jug in the fridge. You'll mix this in later.

Take another gallon and put it in your pot and heat it up till hot, but not boiling, over low heat. When really hot, pour in half (7.5 pounds) of your sugar and mix until fully combined.

Pour this, along with your other 3 gallons, into your carboy. If you like to oxegenate, here's your chance. Otherwise, mix extremely well. If you are going to mix in nutrient, now's the time to add half of it.. Swirl to make sure that your sugar rich juice gets mixed in with the other juice.

Let cool and pitch a pack of yeast like normal.

Let ferment for about 4 days then take your other gallon of juice out of the fridge and heat and mix your sugar. Let this cool down to room temp. Add to your carboy and add the rest of your yeast and the other half of your nutrient.

Let set for a month then check your hydrometer every day for a three or four days to make sure it's finished. Then rack to secondary.

This may seem a little of the extreme side, but there are people out there who want higher ABV drinks. Like I said earlier, and has been mentioned before, I would not recommend getting drunk on this. Because your head might explode.

It has its purpose though, great during the winter. On the rare occasion, I like to sit down with a warm coffee cup of this stuff, with about a tablespoon of simple syrup, a slice of orange, a little nutmeg and a pinch of Cinnamon, before bed on a cold winter night. That or whiskey.

I do have two quick questions thought: Most people use dextrose, why not regular sugar in this? Secondly, should I invert my sugar?

15 pounds? Holey moley! Did you age any of it for an extended period? How drinkable did it get?

I've had a batch, stored in 5 1 gallon carboys setting since summer of last year in my cellar (at about 65 degrees year round). I tried some in January, and it was rough, but getting better. It still has a heck of an alcoholic bite to it, that probably won't ever go away, but I like my vodka straight so its not really much of a bother. I'm waiting until November to try it again.

Next batch I'm thinking about back sweetening a little and maybe brewing it with some spices, like allspice maybe. May help to cover some of those crazy flavors.

MT -

Did you attempt any gravity readings?

If so, about how far below the surface was the top of the hydrometer?

Pogo

Richard said:

Getting drunk is not necessarily my motivation here...I just wanted to hear if anyone had made the apfelwein at a strength closer to regular wine, and what their results were taste-wise after some aging.

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I don't make apfelwein, but I make apple wine at about 12-13% ABV. It's a very nice white table wine. You could make wine, basically the same way, shooting for an OG of 1.085 or so. Using champagne yeast, (or any wine yeast, really) it'll ferment dry. I bottle mine dry, but it can be backsweetened. It'll be ready in about 2 years.

(My recipe also calls for some tannin and acid blend).

Haha. I generally try to get a good estimate so I use my potential alcohol scale on my meter. My apple juice started out at 8 percent, so with half the sugar it came out to like 12.5 percent. After fermented out, at 0-1 percent left, I plugged in the rest of the sugar, another 4.5 percent worth and let it ferment out, leaving with about 17% ABV.

Mine usually comes out between 8 and 10.something%.

Very drinkable in 6 months.

MellowToad said:

Haha. I generally try to get a good estimate so I use my potential alcohol scale on my meter. My apple juice started out at 8 percent, so with half the sugar it came out to like 12.5 percent. After fermented out, at 0-1 percent left, I plugged in the rest of the sugar, another 4.5 percent worth and let it ferment out, leaving with about 17% ABV.

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I can't even imagine how bad 17% apfelwein is. You should try making it the way Ed says....Then make your decision as to weather or not the higher alcohol is worth the loss in quality and character.

I'd rather just do a shot...then drink my apfelwein.

I used an extra pound(the bag slipped and got the contents wet so in it went). Its been in the fermenter for 3 weeks now. I also drop the temp to 65*F(Due to the edwort warning of the following morning). I used a degasser on it after the first week trying to give the yeast every bit of help I can. now the waiting game.

MellowToad said:

Haha. I generally try to get a good estimate so I use my potential alcohol scale on my meter. My apple juice started out at 8 percent, so with half the sugar it came out to like 12.5 percent. After fermented out, at 0-1 percent left, I plugged in the rest of the sugar, another 4.5 percent worth and let it ferment out, leaving with about 17% ABV.

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Your apple juice alone was 8% does that seem high to anyone else?

I can't even imagine how bad 17% apfelwein is..

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I guess it really depends on what you like. Some people think that the flavor of hops are bad. Some people do not like the kick of straight vodka and think it's bad. Would you say the same about a 25% ABV beer like Sam Adams Utopias which has always been well received by reviewers and critiques, yet blows away, in strength, all other conventional beers in the 4-6 percent alcohol grade. I realize that yes this recipe is for a strong batch, and it might not taste as yummy, but there are people out there who like these kind of drinks.

Also, don't get me wrong, I love the basic Edwort Recipe, I've made probably 20 gallons over the past few months.

Richard asked a question and I'm trying my best to participate, to give him what I looked for before I undertook this project last summer and wasn't able to find.

And Richard, if this is your first batch, I would heavily get used to the normal recipe first and move up from there. That way you'll be able to have an idea of what the two taste like side by side, a lighter vs a stronger.

Your apple juice alone was 8% does that seem high to anyone else?

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The apple juice I use is 100% juice, a store brand, from my local grocery store. It's a very sweet juice. I'll check the OG and post it along with the brand for you all.

If you want a stronger apple flavored beverage, try making a cyser. Use honey instead of corn sugar to increase the OG, and switch to a dry mead yeast or even champagne yeast.

Simply adding a ton of corn sugar makes...hooch...

If I was to replace most of my sugar with honey, would I use pound for pound? Always looking for ways to improve my recipe.

MellowToad said:

If I was to replace most of my sugar with honey, would I use pound for pound? Always looking for ways to improve my recipe.

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No, honey has a different SG than sugar. It varies by type, but you could guestimate it. Usually, by pound, you need slightly more honey. Generally a pound of honey has an SG of 1.035 or so, I think.

Yuri_Rage said:

If you want a stronger apple flavored beverage, try making a cyser. Use honey instead of corn sugar to increase the OG, and switch to a dry mead yeast or even champagne yeast.

Simply adding a ton of corn sugar makes...hooch...

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I wasn't trying to. I had a 3 lb bag and it slipped out of my hands soaking the contents. since the CS couldn't be saved I didn't want to waste it.

MellowToad said:

If I was to replace most of my sugar with honey, would I use pound for pound? Always looking for ways to improve my recipe.

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Hi MellowToad: I've been told by pro vinters that 1 lb. honey per gallon of apple juice is roughly equal to 1% ABV in the finished cyser. While I've not done the math on this, it seems to me (thru personal experience) that this is ROUGHLY accurate; tho my experience has proved that the combination of the wild flower honey I use in conjunction with the unfiltered juice I mix it with (at the above rate) only works out to about 0.8 or 0.9% ABV; so I usually add anywhere from 0.5 lb. extra honey to 1.5 lbs. extra honey (depending on the recipe & the honey variety) to compensate & get those extra ABV percentage points on my PA scale. But remember: sugar types, percentages & ratios vary from honey variety to honey variety; just like sugar content of apples varies from variety to variety. This may not be an issue for you, lots of mead makers don't think it is. You can find some very useful info on pages #90-100 in "The Compleat Meadmaker" by Ken Schramm. I hope you find something in this post useful. Regards, GF.

Has anyone tried making Apfelwein with Turbo Yeast?

It's probably recommended on that recipe with 15 lbs of Sugar...

(Hey, somebody was bound to ask...)

Turbo yeast has all sorts of buffers and nasties to push it to 20%+. If you want something stronger, use 1118 or something similar with low fusel/ester formation like distiller's yeast.

gratus fermentatio-

Thanks for the info. I'm looking to give all sorts of stuff a try, this might be one of those things.

homebrewer_99-

I would heavily recommend staying away from turbo yeast. I've tried it in the past and you'll end up with a much better tasting drink (if you can get past the alcohol taste) with the Lavlin EC1118 yeast with only a small reduction in ABV compared to the turbo. In reality, the yeast I recommend, the 1118, is perfect for this and will leave you with a dry, tart burning-alcohol flavor.

But for what its worth, for shiggles if you will, it would work.

It is possible.

But drinkable- maybe not so much.

If you wanted to push it up to 24%, you could add and use Turbo and, I'm guessing, maybe 5 through 6 pounds of sugar. Once again, you've been warned. The 8-9% ABV that is the recipe on this site is rough, my original version at 18% is like a kick in the balls, but a 24%... that's hooch as in more than half the OG is from sugar water.

If you try it, let me know.

Arneba28 said:

I mis measured my batch and it came out at 8.5% And yes it is pretty hoochy. The alcohol nose and taste is pretty strong.

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Hooch? I resemble that remark.

If you let it age properly, the alcohol nose and taste disappear so much it will sneak up on you and smack you in the back of the head with a cast iron skillet.

homebrewer_99 said:

Has anyone tried making Apfelwein with Turbo Yeast?

It's probably recommended on that recipe with 15 lbs of Sugar...

(Hey, somebody was bound to ask...)

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Now, don't be calling that stuff Apfelwein. It is hooch plain and simple and ya'll know what happens to hooch threads.

EdWort said:

ya'll know what happens to hooch threads.

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That which should have happened here 22 or 23 posts ago! :cross:

I've made plenty of apfelwein at around 8% and it's quite good. My latest batch of apfelwein-like-product is strictly apple juice. Two gallons of regular cider, and four cans of 16 oz apple juice concentrate. The OG is 1.078 and I got four more 16 oz cans ready to be pitched! I used Montrachet, but I realize now I probably should have used champage yeast for even higher ABV.